Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins at Hell in a Cell Was Ruined by Finish

Vince Russo would be proud.

WWE’s Hell in a Cell show went off the air amid run-ins, fake weapons, fake fog and, um, a hologram distraction in the middle of the ring. (No, it wasn’t Princess Leia.)

Alas, the awful and convoluted finish of Dean Ambrose vs. Seth Rollins ruined what was an otherwise superb main event.

Credit to the guys: They worked incredibly hard—and took some major bumps—to churn out a terrific bout. But nothing they could have done could have saved that ending. (Ambrose had the upper hand on his foe until Wyatt and his Hollywood visual-effects team appeared out of nowhere to distract him. Rollins then capitalized to get the victory.)

The crowd in Dallas seemed rather perplexed by all this. Unsurprisingly, bewildered fans took to Twitter in the aftermath of the show to voice their disbelief at the shenanigans:

No wonder they’re upset: That finish was astonishing—and not in a good way. It came off like something desperate and confused WCW bookers would have churned out in the company’s dying days.

Although, in fairness to WWE, WCW writers would have probably gone all out and awarded the hologram the World title soon after.

Vince McMahon might be desperate for new stars right now, but we probably won’t see the hologram get a big push, even if it does have a good workrate and gets along with everyone backstage.

Credit: WWE.com

Maybe McMahon thought the bizarre conclusion to the bout would get everyone talking—which it has. Sadly, what they’re saying doesn’t seem to be terribly flattering. Note to WWE writers: Just because you have a terrific production team and can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should.

Honestly, if WWE was truly determined to show off what it could do with modern technology, it could have saved that stuff for a Raw or SmackDown, where it would have seemed like a fun novelty. However, as a pay-per-view main event ending? Absolutely not.

Even taking out all the craziness, the ending significantly damaged Ambrose’s credibility. Following several high-profile losses to Rollins, the former DragonGate USA desperately needed the win here. That he failed to do so will greatly hinder the momentum he had.

Credit: WWE.com

His upcoming feud with Wyatt—who hasn’t been relevant in months—indicates WWE is already demoting him back to the midcard. Ambrose is talented enough to make the best of what he’s given, no matter how bad, but really, it’s difficult to come out of Hell in a Cell feeling massively optimistic about his future.

Arguably, the nonsensical finish didn’t really help Rollins much, either. When you think of all the great heels in wrestling history—men like Ric Flair, Harley Race or Roddy Piper—not one of them needed the help of a hologram ghost to win.

On the bright side, at least WWE set the stage for Ambrose and Rollins to clash again in the future. With an inconclusive finish like that, the two men will almost certainly have to meet again to truly settle their issues. Considering how great their feud has been, this can only be a good thing.

Now let’s just hope that when they do have another match, the company leaves its special effects equipment back in Stamford.